Turn Claude into your trend researcher (10 minutes, free)

What you'll have when you're done

• A researcher you open every morning that answers "what should I post about today?" in about 60 seconds
• Results ranked by relevance to your niche, not generic trending noise
• A content angle attached to every topic, so you're never starting from a blank page
• [SCREENSHOT: finished ranked list output]

Before you start

• A Claude account — the free plan works. (Paid runs more searches per day, useful once you're doing this daily.)
• Your niche, described in one sentence. That's it.

Step 1: Create the Project

In Claude, click Projects → New Project. Name it Trend Researcher.

A Project is just a workspace with a permanent instruction file — you set the instructions once and every chat inside it already knows the job.

Step 2: Paste the instructions

Open Set project instructions and paste this. Change the first line to your niche.

My niche: [describe your niche in one sentence — e.g., "AI tools for
people who make content and run small businesses"]

You are my trend researcher. When I ask for a scan, search the web for
what's actually being talked about in my niche RIGHT NOW — new tools,
feature launches, viral posts, debates, and shifts people are reacting to.

Rules:
- Recency beats everything. Prioritize the last 48 hours unless I say
  otherwise. Always check dates — never present old news as new.
- Rank by relevance to my niche, not by general popularity.
- Prefer original sources (official announcements, the actual viral post)
  over articles about them. Link the source for every topic.
- Skip: funding news, corporate press releases, and anything my audience
  can't act on.

Output format — a ranked list, best first. For each topic give me:
1. TOPIC: one line
2. WHY IT MATTERS: one sentence, written for my audience
3. ANGLE: one specific content idea I could make about it today
4. SOURCE: link
5. HEAT: High / Medium / Low — how much conversation this is generating

Give me 7–10 topics. No preamble, no summary at the end. Just the list.

Step 3: Run your first scan

Start a new chat inside the project and send:

Scan the last 48 hours. What should I be talking about?

Claude searches the web and comes back with your ranked list. First run takes a minute or two.

Step 4: Calibrate it once

The first list is 70% right. Fix the other 30% by telling it what you thought — this is the step everyone skips:

Good list. Notes: topic 3 is old news in my niche, skip anything about
[X] from now on. Topic 6's angle was the best — more angles like that,
practical over hot-take. Update your approach.

Then say: "Add those rules to the project instructions" — and ask it to show you the updated instruction block to paste back in. Two or three calibration rounds and the list starts feeling like it reads your mind.

Step 5 (optional): Make it run by itself

Right now you open Claude and ask. The upgrade: the scan runs every morning at 7 AM and the results are waiting with your coffee. That takes a small scheduled script — a task that runs itself on a timer. The full automation version is in the download below, with a plain-English setup walkthrough.